Motor vehicles such as tracks and automobiles are exposed to airflow during operation. One significant problem that arises is caused by contact between the vehicle and the air flow which often contains rocks, dust, rain, snow, insects, and other road debris. If the debris contacts the front of the vehicle, the impact may cause damage to the vehicle. Insects and other debris may also accumulate on the front of the vehicle. If the debris contacts the windshield of the vehicle, the windshield may be damaged and an accumulation of debris on the windshield may obstruct visibility.
To address these problems, vehicle shield devices have been placed on the fronts of vehicles in an attempt to protect the fronts of the vehicles from contact with the road debris and to deflect the airflow away from the windshields. However, many of the conventional vehicle shield devices have a variety of different problems which make the conventional devices undesirable.
One problem that arises with some conventional vehicle shield devices is that the devices just protect a portion of the hood and do not protect any of the fender of the vehicle. Some portions of the fender are exposed to direct contact with the airflow. Just as road debris can damage and accumulate on the hood, portions of the fender can also be damaged by contact with the debris and are subject to accumulation of debris.
Another problem relates to vehicle shield devices which combine a hood protector portion with an airflow deflector portion. Such conventional structures disclose airflow deflector portions positioned at or very near the front of the vehicle. In this position, the deflector portion is located a substantial distance from the windshield and may produce excessive drag and may not efficiently deflect the airflow away from the windshield.
Another problem relates to adjustable airflow deflectors. Adjustable deflectors have encountered problems related to the hinging of the deflectors with respect to a vehicle surface having a nonplanar shape. If a nonplanar shape exists, it is difficult to provide a vehicle shield device that is movable such that it follows the contours of the vehicle in all positions while presenting a continuous airflow engaging surface across the front of the vehicle. Some shield devices having a single-piece deflector structure are movable but they are generally planar and do not follow the contours of the front of the vehicles in all positions. U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,013 discloses a vehicle shield device having a multi-piece deflector structure which presents a continuous airflow engaging surface across the front of the vehicle but it requires specially-designed hinges to attach the device to the vehicle. Two side hinges are designed to permit both rotational and longitudinal movement of portions of the device during movement of the device and a central hinge is required which both pivotally attaches to the hood and pivotally attaches to the deflector structure.
It is clear that there has been a continuing need for improvements in vehicle shield devices to provide for protection of the fronts of the vehicles and to provide for deflection of airflow away from the windshields of the vehicles while addressing the above-recited problems or similar problems that exist with conventional vehicle shield devices.